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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757715">Friday's Child</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/pseuds/Banbury'>Banbury</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Danger, F/M, Gen, Investigations</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:06:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,897</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banbury/pseuds/Banbury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t supposed to go all FUBAR on Wednesday! He could’ve dealt with Monday, but Wednesday… Holy Mother in the sneakers!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anthony DiNozzo/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>2020 NCIS Reverse Bang</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Friday's Child</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743993">Art for "Friday's Child" by banbury</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria/pseuds/penumbria">penumbria</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Many thanks to penumbria for the inspirational picture.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/urkyqyydwhfxftz/Friday-s-Child-banbury-FINAL.jpg/file"></a>
  
</p>
<p>
  <b>Friday’s Child</b>
</p>
<p>Somehow it was always a Monday when things happened. It was on a Monday they met the first time, another Monday they reacquainted after a long absence from each other’s lives, it was a Monday he got captured in Afghanistan, Dante acquired plague, he fought with Obadia, not to say that it was a Monday when he and Dante looked each other in the eyes and acknowledged their feelings. It was always a Monday and not even the thirteenth, oh, no – every other date but…</p>
<p>Today was Wednesday.</p>
<p>Fuck it! It wasn’t supposed to go all FUBAR on Wednesday! He could’ve dealt with Monday, but Wednesday… Holy Mother in the sneakers!</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>
  <b>Wednesday, early morning</b>
</p>
<p>Something pointy and rather sharp dug into Tony’s side and he tried to shift further albeit furtively – there was an edge of the bed to his left, the said uncomfortable object to his right and no other way to go. He frowned and lazily patted around to feel for the offending object but his hand connected with something too big, solid, warm and not at all pointy for sure. The said someone growled “sleep, dammit” and tried to smother Tony with big calloused hand being thrown around his midriff. </p>
<p>“Fuck!” They jerked simultaneously and Tony rolled off the bed. </p>
<p>“Caro?”</p>
<p>Tony looked down, bent and fished out a rather frighteningly looking screwdriver from under the blanket.</p>
<p>“Uhmm…” He smiled sheepishly at his companion and threw it across the room to the main part of his workshop.</p>
<p>Dante patted the bed beside him silently asking his lover whether he would return here and looked up trying to decipher time of the night or day through the crack of the door. There was no clock in this room, not much anything actually apart from the large bed that dominated the space and a set of drawers that held some much-needed items and spare clothes. The room seemed much smaller than it was due to the lack of windows. It was the only space Tony could spare from his workshop when Dante demanded he found them some place to sleep close by while Tony was too busy to go to their bedroom. Tony was grateful that Dante, while being all bitchy and angry after nearly a week apart, still found the reasonable solution and not so gently pressured Tony into considering it. </p>
<p>Tony was about to throw himself right onto Dante when the phone quacked not so silently and chirped “Balboa”. They stilled for a fraction of a second, Dante run his hands over his face and pressed the button.</p>
<p>Tony swore, sat beside the one and only important person in his life (not that he would ever say it out loud to anybody including the said person) and waited for the other shoe to drop. He was acutely aware of the nature of their respective jobs, he knew they could be called in any minute of the day or night, he wouldn’t interfere with Dante’s cases, but… oh, boy… he always feared cold dread blossoming in the pit of his stomach every time his lover developed this concentrated, slightly distant look on his face while taking the call at the beginning of a new case. And somehow Tony always knew when the call meant a new case.</p>
<p>Tony might be a reckless careless bastard. He might be cold, sarcastic, sometimes downright evil. He might have never even liked any of his associates. But Dante. Dante was…</p>
<p>Tony silently laughed at himself for being a romantic sap for once and tuned into the conversation.</p>
<p>“…absolutely sure?”</p>
<p>“…” Dante nodded</p>
<p>“I don’t work on anything pressing right now and can be in Washington in about…” He glanced hesitantly at Tony, “… three hours?”</p>
<p>Tony nodded. As far as he remembered his plane was in New York right now and …</p>
<p>“You … no, no, I can do it, really … better? … You didn’t tell Gibbs about it? Why? … I see … No, you’re right, it would … What? Who? … are you sure we should talk about it on the phone? … I …”</p>
<p>Tony wasn’t sure what it was all about but he didn’t like it one bit. There was something in Dante’s eyes that he hesitated to call – panic – but couldn’t find another word to describe. Dante looked at him briefly, then shut his eyes and took a deep breath.</p>
<p>“Call me in five minutes, please. Five minutes top.” He didn’t listen to the answer, disconnected his phone, then leaned closer and kissed Tony short and fierce. “I love you.”</p>
<p>Tony opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came.</p>
<p>“So, I don’t know enough right now. Actually, I know almost nothing, but you need to come with me,” Dante slid from the bed and fetched the robe from the floor. “I know you are busy, but you’re busy all the time and I really, really need you to come with me.”</p>
<p>Tony looked at his friend and lover putting on his robe, fumbling with the belt, looking around for anything he might need later, and all the way having such a strange expression like he truly was afraid of something, didn’t want anybody see it and at the same time hoped Tony would.</p>
<p>“How do we go – plane or Iron Man?”</p>
<p>Dante turned to him with absolute blank look on his face, then sat heavily on the bed.</p>
<p>“Sorry, man, I just… I have a feeling we need to be discreet. I dunno… some gut feeling. And neither plane nor Iron Man would pull it off…” He looked at Tony helplessly. It’s the first time ever Tony saw his Dante being that uncertain of anything.</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>Tony called Pepper to let her know he is out of town for the next… fuck…</p>
<p>“I’ll call you.”</p>
<p>“Tony, you can’t just take off at a moment notice. Damn, you have meetings all day tomorrow and today you are supposed to be at a charity event. Tony, you need to do it! I need you to…” Pepper was awake when Tony called her, but let herself have some time lazing around in bed doing nothing and what good it did her! Tony heard the anger growing in her voice and said with all the firmness he could master at six o’clock after three hours of sleep.</p>
<p>“Pepper, I don’t want to discuss it with you now. I really need to get going. Call you later.” He quickly shut the phone and looked around his workshop. There was no big project this time around and he put away everything he was tinkering with while talking with Pepper. Tony nodded to himself and shut the door heading to the elevator.</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>Dante always amazed Tony with his ability to be ready to head out in less than ten minutes, though he didn’t like to think about how he developed this ability. It wasn’t that he was jealous of the time Dante spent working for police and NCIS, it’s just he was a bit jealous. He wasn’t actually sure of what exactly, probably of the time Dante spent not with him.</p>
<p>When he stepped out of the elevator on their floor two bags were already by it and Dante, freshly showered and all suited up, was putting breakfast on the plates.</p>
<p>“A…” </p>
<p>“No, no, no, I’m not talking to you about it right now, man,” Dante shoved a cup of coffee in Tony’s hands. “You have 10 minutes, tops. I booked us tickets for Amtrak and we have to be at the station in about an hour.”</p>
<p>“Baby…”</p>
<p>“Tony.”</p>
<p>There was no way to talk to Dante when he was in that kind of mood. At least Tony knew better and in eleven and half minutes they shut the door behind them.</p>
<p> ///</p>
<p>
  <b>Wednesday morning</b>
</p>
<p>Tony couldn’t remember a time he actually took a train anywhere. It was an experience. He didn’t know how Dante was able to do it, but nobody paid them any attention. It was amazing. They took their seats among other passengers and nobody batted an eye, Tony was waiting secretly that any minute now somebody will poke a finger at him, but there were only one or two doubtful glances thrown his way.</p>
<p>“…did you hear anything I said?” Tony jerked out of his thoughts and turned to annoyed Dante. “Man! What’s up? I’m telling you…”</p>
<p>“I’m riding the train the first time I my life.”</p>
<p>“Damn, man, I love you, I will take you back by train as well, but please, please, just listen to me.” There was something in Dante’s eyes Tony couldn’t put a name to and he nodded silently.</p>
<p>Dante sighed, opened his ever-present notebook. </p>
<p>“That was Balboa calling me earlier. Don’t remember if I have ever told you about him – one of my colleagues from NCIS, really good people. He had always helped me in tight times. He’s working on a case now, didn’t tell me much about it, something complicated, joint with FBI and local forces, never mind, but… yesterday they searched the office of one of the suspects and…”</p>
<p>Dante leafed through his notebook. “Do you know anybody by the name of George Young?” </p>
<p>Tony blinked; that was a bit unexpected. “No. Not that I remember everybody I’ve ever met, but… no.”</p>
<p>Dante nodded, “I see. And Bartholomew… Bartholomew Te…may be Tennent or something like that, it’s not very clear…”</p>
<p>“You think I would’ve forgotten anybody with the name Bartholomew?” Tony snorted and grabbed the notebook from his friends’ hands. He turned the page and stilled. “Wha..?”</p>
<p>“That’s why Balboa called me. This sheet of paper was in the chimney with some other papers the suspect tried to burn. He was the first to look through them and took it upon himself to remove it from the case file.”</p>
<p>“Very dangerous for him…” Tony was looking at the names afraid and unable to formulate any coherent thought. “How did you get these names? I didn’t see you writing down anything during your conversation…”</p>
<p>Dante was silent for a moment looking through the window with his eyes closed and mouth - thin bitter line. “We put the special protocol in place to be able to contact each other and send information if the necessity arises. It was…” The former NCIS agent fell silent, opened his eyes and looked up. “I couldn’t really trust anybody at that time. Balboa cornered me one night and gave me an ultimatum – either…or. </p>
<p>Don’t know what I would’ve done if not for him…”</p>
<p>Tony wanted to take his best friend, his lover into his arms but there wasn’t any spare time nor was it the best place for it. The only way he could help Dante and himself was being professional and supportive.</p>
<p>“What’s the protocol?” He was genuinely curious about other people’s technical inventions and that one sounded interesting.</p>
<p>“Dunno”, Dante shrugged and stopped and looked at Tony with surprise. “No, really. I know that I can send or receive photo of myself or something else through the phone message system but sort of anonymously, it activates for two minutes when Balboa opens it and then destroys without a trace. And vice versa, naturally. I know it useless unless I have my phone or a way to use another, but nothing’s perfect. It really saved me couple of times.”</p>
<p>“I see”, Tony was determined to find out the technical protocol behind the people’s one, but it wasn’t a priority right now. “So, he sent you the paper?”</p>
<p>Dante took the notebook back and looked through the names one more time.</p>
<p>“I understand why he did eliminate it from the evidence – our names would’ve pushed the investigation in the different direction. Especially yours.”</p>
<p>Tony nodded. It might’ve been the intention – to throw the investigation into the different direction. But still…</p>
<p>“What other options do we have?”</p>
<p>They had to stop when the train arrived at the next station. Tony squeezed Dante’s hand, sat back and sighed. They both were busy men, busy men with a lot of obligations. They didn’t have a lot of opportunity to just sit side by side and talk. And it felt good right now to sit there and talk even when the topic was troubling and they had to be discrete. He took his phone out and checked the small light flashing on the side of the device – it was an unknown to other people sign that his AI was screening their conversation.</p>
<p>The line of new passengers dissolved in the depth of the coach and Tony touched Dante’s hand to resume their discussion.</p>
<p>“What other option do we have?”</p>
<p>“We might really be a part of the case, dunno in what capacity but still…”</p>
<p>Tony turned the idea in his head that way and this way and shrugged.</p>
<p>“Seems unlikely.”</p>
<p>“That’s what I think as well”, Dante open the notebook again and looked down. “It has to be something really newsworthy to pick the bouquet of one former agent of a relatively unknown alphabet agency with his former team, his known associate, gay, I have to add, millionaire and philanthropist, with the members of his team, and a bunch of virtually unknown people.” </p>
<p>“Sounds novellisty, so to say.”</p>
<p>“Hear, hear!” Dante yawned and shook his head. “We really have to sleep the whole night through once in a while.”</p>
<p>“Dweeb! Don’t change the subject!” Tony snapped up the notebook and it opened on the familiar page. “Do you want me to run these names through Jarvis?”</p>
<p>“Not yet, we need to look through other options.”</p>
<p>“We have other options?” Tony sat straight lost in thoughts.</p>
<p>“Oh, do we have…” Dante cocked his head waiting for his friend to come up with the obvious choice.</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>
  <b>Wednesday afternoon</b>
</p>
<p>They both nearly fell asleep while the train was going through Philadelphia. Tony didn’t have as colorful memories of the city as his lover and he didn’t want to reopen old wounds, so he opened the news on the phone and tried to determine the nature of the case Dante’s friend worked on through the political gossip and random incidents. The next thing he knew Dante shook him awake when the train came close to the Delaware River and pointed out the places he’d been to at some point.</p>
<p>“I know. They might be actually aiming at us!” Tony was really proud he found the new aspect of the case and he signaled the café car for two cups of coffee.</p>
<p>They waited for the steward to go down the coach.</p>
<p>“They might be actually aiming at us…” Tony repeated his own words slowly. It was sort of frightening to be sitting here and thinking that some unknown person might not like you that much and so they might throw you into the middle of some criminal activity. He had his share of sworn enemies, but he usually knew them well enough and could predict their moves and ideas… That faceless and nameless threat seemed somehow bigger and bolder.</p>
<p>The coffee suddenly tasted like ash and he put it aside.</p>
<p>“Did they?”</p>
<p>Dante didn’t answer at first studying the names on the page.</p>
<p>“I think we need to go through the names once more and do it carefully. I think Balboa is right and these names have nothing in common with his case and have everything to do with one or both of us. The strangest thing is how this person wants to come into contact with us. I think he…”, Dante paused to see Tony’s reaction, - “He”, confirmed Tony, - “…he somehow has access to the case and he knew that the other agents would have needed to bring us down to at least question and protect us and then he…”</p>
<p>Tony nodded thinking the same when Dante turned to him with widened eyes.</p>
<p>“He might’ve known that I’m friends with Balboa and he counted on Balboa’s sense of kinship and opportunities to help. But! What he didn’t count on was that Balboa would be alone when he saw these papers for the first time and that he would hide them and alert us. If he didn’t…” Dante began to mumble something under his breath.</p>
<p>Tony looked around cautiously. There was actually nothing wrong with people around. They went about their own business and everyday routine. Everything seemed more or less not threatening but Tony couldn’t unsee the threat looming above.</p>
<p>“Don’t think about it. I can’t determine whether this person is just dumb or genius, did he somehow arrange the whole situation…”</p>
<p>“Or they…”</p>
<p>“Or… Damn, let’s forget all our calculations. Do you really think some hidden evil mastermind sits somewhere and waves his spider web around us? Do you?” Dante turned to Tony and looked him in the eye very seriously. “We would’ve felt some undercurrent tension around, we have too much experience in dealing with such things. And to have that really aimless threat against too many people just pop out of nowhere?”</p>
<p>Tony was nodding to his friend’s words thinking that it really might be just the figment of their tired minds’ imagination. Sunbeam reflected from the surface of a small pond beside the railway and scattered around the car. There was early summer outside, clear blue sky promised heat and a young woman across the aisle wore a pretty silk dress the color of Dante’s eyes. She smiled at Tony who smiled back out of habit and then smiled at Dante because he wanted to.</p>
<p>“And it’s not even Monday.”</p>
<p>“Monday?”</p>
<p>“Forget it,” Tony kissed him determinedly because he suddenly felt like he could take on the whole world let alone their train. “Let me see the names again…” </p>
<p>He took the notebook and read it again.</p>
<p>“Let’s put our names aside. Pepper, I assume that “…ia Potts” means Pepper, is an obvious choice when somebody puts down my name because everybody knows she’s my SEO.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but why Gibbs? I transferred to New York three years ago and our Agency was really quite small and relatively unknown to the general public to associate Gibbs with me.”</p>
<p> “And you are right, but I want to focus on each name as it is, without connecting them,” Tony patted Dante’s hand and pointed to the next uncrossed name, “Laura Jane… Did you ever meet Laura Jane?”</p>
<p>“I met a lot of Jane’s, it seems to be a popular name among the HR workers and secretaries…”</p>
<p>“How ungentlemanly of you make such generalizations. But to be fair I’ve met my share of Jane’s in the science field. I think I knew one or two Lauras when I was young and partied hard, but to tell the truth I’m not sure I remembered my own name those times, let alone the names of my fellow partygoers.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I see how it goes,” Dante snickered and smacked Tony on his shoulder. “And still Laura Jane… Not too pretentious a name, but without a surname really hard to remember. I’m sure though that I didn’t put in jail anybody with the name Laura Jane…”</p>
<p>“Ha, and what about a wife or a girlfriend of some unfortunate soul thrown in the jail by you?”</p>
<p>“You know, I think these names supposed to be of a fellow victim, not somebody who wants to harm either of us.”</p>
<p>Tony sobered up really quick and smiled apologetically.</p>
<p>“So, we really don’t know anybody by the name of Bartholomew, right?” </p>
<p>Dante nodded and bit his lower lip, “If we assume that “…ca Martins” is actually Rebecca Martins then I knew one Rebecca Martins when I was in Ohio. She was the captain of the girls’ basketball team and I used to discuss the strategies with her and our coach before and after the games. I didn’t really think of her all these years, gosh,” he shook his head. “I’m sure none of my frat brothers even knew her. We…”</p>
<p>“McCann!” Tony took his hand and squeezed, “Do you remember McCann? Oh, no, you wouldn’t – he was the one who transferred to the other school and then your dad sent you to my school.”</p>
<p>They fell silent. It was so many years and events, cases and incidents ago that they both looked at those days like some kind of a tale told to them by some mad nanny. They spent only one semester in that boarding school together but it was the first time they met each other and it had quite a profound impact on their miserable childhood that that one semester in his eyes was bigger than a year together, even two years…</p>
<p>“Damn, do you remember Stanlee? He was that substitute chemistry teacher who taught us to make “Molotov’s cocktails” and special concoction to put into our crackers,” Tony laughed out loud and stretched his left hand before him, “I burnt my left hand the first time I tried to do it and then you shouted at him to follow safety regulations.”</p>
<p>Tony nodded, sure he remembered that brilliant young man who opened his eyes to the beauty of the Mendeleev’s table and the power of mixed elements.</p>
<p>“But I still don’t remember a George Young.” Dante looked out the window and then to Tony.</p>
<p>“Me too…”</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>
  <b>Wednesday afternoon</b>
</p>
<p>The train hit the suburbs of Baltimore when Dante’s phone chirped the way it did in the morning.</p>
<p>“Balboa?” Dante sat straight and frowned. “But we’ll be here in an hour, top… Uhu… What? Are you for real?” He turned to Tony with the raised eyebrow. “What’s his name again… You are kidding! He… Okay, I see. I’ll be waiting to hear from you by the end of the week, okay?”<br/>He switched off his phone and cocked his head.</p>
<p>“What do you think, dear, if we buy our return tickets straight away and have a nice dinner in the restaurant on the way back… And we won’t talk about anything significant… And then we reacquaint with our big soft bed in the bedroom without any screws or screwdrivers under the blanket… and then I will tell you a wonderful fairy horror tale about a small spiteful boy under the name of Antony and an unhealthy desire to be the first in everything without actually doing anything.”</p>
<p>“You mean Tony Bramfeld? You mean… Or, no! The bane of my existence all three years I was in this school! Are you telling me that he managed to make my day hell again?”</p>
<p>///</p>
<p>
  <b>Wednesday night</b>
</p>
<p>Tony was listening to Dante’s soft snores and smiling. It was good it wasn’t Monday, he was thinking. He didn’t really have good relationship with Mondays and to think that Dante was born on a Monday seemed a bit unfair. But then Dante didn’t usually have good relationship with Friday, despite it being the day Tony was born. He could live with that. He just has to make sure the other days are good for them. They can even make a joint birthday on Sunday… That was an idea worth considering…</p>
<p>Monday's child is fair of face<br/>Tuesday's child is full of grace<br/>Wednesday's child is full of woe<br/>Thursday's child has far to go,<br/>Friday's child is loving and giving,<br/>Saturday's child works hard for a living,<br/>And the child that is born on the Sabbath day<br/>Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.</p>
<p>“Tony Bramfeld should’ve been born on Wednesday…” Tony thought suddenly, right before the dream overtook his tired mind…</p>
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